Jackson (crater)

Jackson

LRO WAC image
Coordinates	22.4°N 163.1°W / 22.4; -163.1
Diameter	71.3 km
Depth	Unknown
Colongitude	164° at sunrise
Eponym	John Jackson

Clementine mosaic showing much of the extent of the ray system. The image width is approximately 800 km.

Jackson is a prominent lunar impact crater that is located in the northern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. It is named after Scottish astronomer John Jackson. Prior to formal naming in 1970 by the IAU, this crater was known as Crater 144.

This crater created a large ray system. A skirt of higher-albedo material covers the surface within one crater diameter, with a slightly darker band along the outer ramparts. Beyond that radius, the rays form wide sections that grow increasingly diffuse and wispy with distance. The largest sections lie in roughly 90° arcs to the northeast and southwest, while a narrower arc projects to the south-southeast. The rays continue for hundreds of kilometers across the surface.

The rim of the crater is well-defined and not significantly worn. The edge is somewhat polygonal in shape, with the southeastern rim being more rounded. The inner walls display some terracing. The interior floor is generally level with some irregularities in the northeastern part. Parts of the floor have a relatively high albedo. Anorthosite with a very low mafic abundance has been detected in the central peaks. The infrared spectrum of pure crystalline plagioclase has been identified on the central peak, as well as the floor, and the east and west parts of the crater wall.

Less than one crater to the northeast is the crater Mineur, and to the south-southwest lies McMath. It lies to the northwest of the Dirichlet-Jackson Basin.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Jackson.

Jackson	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
Q	21.1° N	164.7° W	13 km
X	25.2° N	164.3° W	17 km

References

Sources

• Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
• Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature". USGS. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
• Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.
• Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 978-0-936389-27-1.
• McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. Archived from the original on 2012-02-08. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
• Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews. 12 (2): 136–186. Bibcode:1971SSRv...12..136M. doi:10.1007/BF00171763. S2CID 122125855.
• Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6.
• Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33500-3.
• Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 978-0-913135-17-4.
• Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. Reprint: ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3
• Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.
• Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 978-1-85233-193-1.

External links

• Melt Fractures in Jackson Crater, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC)
• Jackson's Complexity, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC)
• Zowie! (Jackson's central peaks), Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC)